MEATH… 1-21
CORK… 1-23
If it looks too good to be true, it generally is. For about five minutes of this cracking NFL Div. 2 encounter at Pairc Ui Rinn, it apprared Meath were once again going to pull off the seemingly impossible and steal a victory.
Alas Ciaran Caulfield’s valiant two point effort dropped short and a scrambled goal effort was negated. Ensuring that the locals held on by the shortest of short heads.
Though in fairness, John Cleary et al must be wonderimg how they let the visiting Royals get as near to them as was the case. Mind you, Robbie Brennan is probably slmilarly baffled.
Even the hitherto unbeaten green and gold being first out of the traps with an Aaron Lynch point and another soon after from Jordan Morris couldn’t mask the fact that the resident Rebels had a stranglehold on matters, as points rained over via Dara Sheedy, Chris Og Jones, Sean McDonnell and Steven Sherlock as the locals mined out a 1-15 to 0-11 interval advantage for themselves.
It is indicative of the current complexion of football that there was a time 0-11 would be well enough to win a lot of games. Now it was only enough to keep Meath within seven points of their opponents.
That said, yet again the character which is a key component in the engine of this team stood out like a beacon. From when Jack Flynn did Jack Flynn things – that is to say, launching long range grenades over the Cork bar, before Eoghan Frayne sparking to life when blasting to the net.
He then tagged on a point, before Sean Coffey, Ciaran Caulfield, Morris and the introduced Jack O’Connor (two) did likewise and, somewhat unbelievably, Meath were back within a point of the Rebels.
With Cork down a man after Ian Maguire was gated for taking out Adam O’Neill off the ball, it would be easy to assume Meath would kick on and claim the win. They very nearly did it too.
But here’s the thing, that they didn’t is not the catastrophe yours truly felt it in the immediate aftermath of the full time whistle.
Truth be told, all one needed to hear was Robbie’s typically effusive post match press comments to realise that all is be no means lost and our fate is still very much in our own hands.
Furthermore, it’s worth taking into account those who are currently unavailable in the Royal camp, including, but not limited to, Cathal Hickey, Ronan Jones, Keith Curtis, Conor Gray and, on Sunday, Sean Rafferty and Mat Costello.
If you take the latter pair alone – one an All Star and the other who should have been – out of that team or players of equivalent class out of any team – Tom O’Sullivan and David Clifford out of Kerry, Ciaran Kilkenny or Con from Dublin or, as is about to become a heartbreaking reality, Mary Kate Lynch and Vikki Wall off the Meath Ladies team and of course it’s going to have a detrimental effect.
Would the availability of Raffa and/or Matie have made up the two point difference in Meath’s favour? I believe it absolutely would have and, with any luck, will do before the campaign is out.
And, with Kildare, Tyrone and Offaly still waiting ln the wings, and, at my most optimistic, two wins most likely to be enough to at least put us in the promotion conversation. For now, that’s more than enough to concentrate on and be optimistic about.
Scorers – E. Frayne (1-3), J. Morris (0-4), J. Flynn and R. Kinsella (0-3 each), S. Brennan, A. Lynch and J. O’Connor (0-2 each) S. Coffey and C. Caulfield (0-1 each).
MEATH – S. Brennan; R. Ryan, S. Lavin, B. O’Halloran; D. Keogan, S. Coffey, C. Caulfield; B. Menton, J. Flynn; C. Duke, R. Kinsella, C. McBride; J. Morris, E. Frayne, A. Lynch.
SUBS – A. O’Neill for McBride, J. O’Connor for Duke, J. Conlon for Lynch, J. Scully for Ryan.
Referee – Conor Dourneen (Cavan)
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